Pre-agriculture and Pre-forestry Transfer Program at Purdue Calumet

More than 40 programs are offered by the School of Agriculture, Purdue University West Lafayette. Students may complete one- or two year(s) of study in the pre-agriculture or pre-forestry program by taking the courses (up to 60 credits) offered by the Department of Biological Sciences at Purdue University Calumet. These courses can be transferred to the West Lafayette to complete bachelor’s degrees. Transferable courses vary in different options. See adviser for further details. A sample study plan is as follows:

Careers in Agriculture

An agriculture career does not always involve production farming. In fact, only 10 percent of the more than 20 million people who work in the agriculture field are traditional farmers. The rest are employed in more than 200 other agriculture-related careers. Agriculture is science-based, high-tech and offers a variety of career possibilities, including animal and plant researchers, food scientists, nutritionists, commodity brokers, market analysts, forest managers, agricultural journalists, bankers, sales professionals, food processors, wildlife specialists and much more

Nationally, more than 50,000 jobs available every year in the food, agricultural and natural resources system. Salaries for agricultural jobs vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits. Average salary ranges from higher than $80,000 for agricultural veterinarians and research scientists to $30,000 for technicians per year. The overall annual average is approximately $45,000.

Careers in Forestry

Many people think foresters spend their days measuring trees, or in a fire tower watching fires in remote scenic areas. Foresters do these things, but they do more! Foresters are not loggers or woods laborers, but they may interact with them. Forestry is the science and art of attaining desired forest conditions and benefits, and foresters are best described as professionals who use their knowledge and skills of plant and animal ecology to manage forest ecosystems for many purposes. As professionals, foresters develop, use, and communicate their knowledge for one purpose: to sustain and enhance forest resources for diverse benefits in perpetuity. To fulfill this purpose, foresters need to understand the many demands that forests must satisfy and the potential for forest ecosystems to satisfy these demands now and in the future.

The numbers and types of jobs held by graduates in forestry and natural resources are simply too great to thoroughly capture here, though we have given you a fair sampling on the discipline pages. In the next five years, the US Forest Service alone predicts that 32% of its positions will be vacated mostly due to retirement and be needed to be filled. US Geological Survey, US Environmental Protection agency, and other government and private employers face similar situations. Many graduates follow traditional paths as foresters, park rangers, conservation biologists, scientists and technicians, and managers working for private industry, government agencies, consulting firms or schools/universities. Others start their own businesses or create new positions that meet their expertise. Annual salaries in forestry range from $25,000 to $60,000, from $35,000 to $80,000, and from $50,000 to $90,000 for bachelor, master, and doctoral degree holders, respectively.